Synlait and Farm IQ partner to drive insight-led dairy farming

Synlait Milk has partnered with farm software company FarmIQ Systems to provide certified Lead With Pride™ dairy farmers with a cloud-based farm information system.

“Keeping records in the cloud creates the opportunity for data to drive timely, accurate and more informed decisions on farm in a heartbeat,” says John Penno, Synlait’s CEO and Managing Director.

Removing the need for paper-based records also brings benefits in terms of system efficiencies and greater access to information, adds Mr Penno.

“It’s very easy to create data, it’s much harder to do something valuable with it,” says Mr Penno.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Synlait to help their farmers gain even more value from Synlait’s Lead With Pride™ programme,” says Darryn Pegram, the CEO of FarmIQ Systems.

“FarmIQ’s software makes it easier for farmers to record their activities and provides useful, real-time insights to help them make better decisions. We expect this initiative to bring Synlait closer to their farmers and to strengthen their enviable integrated supply chain.”

As well as using the new system to capture specified dairy farm information, certified Lead With Pride™ farmers can also choose to add further information, allowing them to tailor it to their needs.

“Our farmers will have a more robust way to capture farm information and this will ultimately deliver better performance across a wide range of farm activities,” says David Williams, Synlait’s Milk Supply Manager.”

“Beyond their individual farm, they will also be able to benchmark against other farms through comparable aggregated data. The extra insight is something they can actually use and benefit from every day,” adds Mr Williams.

As well as covering the subscription fee for the FarmIQ Dairy+ pack, Synlait is investing in development of the software to address specific Lead With Pride™ requirements.

“Our investment goal is to add features that make recorded data more meaningful for Synlait farmers, while also giving them access to a very powerful tool that can help them run their whole farm business,” says Mr Williams.

“Ultimately, adding these features into Farm IQ’s system will further improve the transparency of our value chain and builds on our commitment to add value and differentiate milk behind the farm gate.”

The new software system, which includes a mobile app, will be available later in 2018.